The present invention relates to an image-picking up and displaying system having a panoramically imaging/displaying function and stereo-scopically imaging/displaying function, and the image-picking up and displaying system.
The present invention also relates to an edit system for an image file obtained by an imaging or image-picking up apparatus.
Conventionally, a method for processing (e.g., synthesizing) and displaying a series of a plurality of captured images is known. For example, an image-picking up/displaying method for displaying two systems of image signals picked up by a multiple image-picking up apparatus or by a single image-picking up apparatus via two picking-up processes is known. When the single image-picking up apparatus is used, picking-up is done by matching the view points of two image-picking up optical systems, and the two obtained images are synthesized at the boundary of the image-picking up ranges, thus presenting to the observer a high-precision panoramic image, which has a larger field. angle and suffers less distortion than the image picked up by the single image-picking up apparatus.
When picking-up is made from two view points by placing two image-picking up optical systems at right and left positions at a spacing nearly equal to the base length, since disparity is produced in the two obtained images, the observer can observe a stereo-scopic image by stereo-scopically observing these two images. As a stereo-scopic image display method, a method of displaying an image using a stereo-scopic display, a method of switching and displaying right and left images using liquid crystal shutter spectacles, and the like are known.
In the following description, assume that n-eye images include both n images obtained by an n-eye image-picking up apparatus via a single picking-up process, and n images obtained by a single image-picking up apparatus via n picking-up processes.
In either of panoramically image-picking up/displaying or stereo-scopically image-picking up/displaying, two systems of image signals picked up by a multiple image-picking up apparatus or obtained by a single image-picking up apparatus must be simultaneously processed. Upon recording these two images on a recording medium of an apparatus, the synthesized image may be recorded. However, in consideration of the need for observation of only component images of the synthesized image or capacity saving of the recording medium, and the like, only component images are conventionally recorded.
When only component images are recorded on the recording medium, and a panoramic or stereo-scopic image is reproduced from the images stored in the recording medium, a plurality of component images, i.e., a pair of component images that form the synthesized image, must be selected to reproduce the synthesized image.
In general, in order to read out a plurality of images picked up by an n-type image-picking up/displaying system or obtained by a single-eye image-picking up/displaying system via a plurality of picking-up processes from the recording medium, process (e.g., synthesize) these images, and display them at the same time, the user must select the plurality of images to be processed one by one.
However, in the aforementioned prior art, since a set of n images picked up at the same time are independent ones, it is troublesome for the user to select such set of n images one by one.